Don Lemon gets in heated argument with John Kasich over Trump’s coronavirus address
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich joined CNN Tonight With Don Lemon on Wednesday where the two got into a heated shouting match over President Trump’s address earlier in the night concerning the coronavirus, just hours after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global pandemic. During the address, Trump suggested the U.S. would be implementing a very restrictive ban on passengers and cargo entering from Europe, other than the U.K., for 30 days beginning Friday at midnight.
“To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days,” Trump said, adding, “These prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval. Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing.”
Not long after saying that trade and cargo would be affected by the ban, Trump posted a tweet saying the exact opposite.
Hoping to get the payroll tax cut approved by both Republicans and Democrats, and please remember, very important for all countries & businesses to know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe. The restriction stops people not goods.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2020
The Department of Homeland Security also issued a statement clarifying that not all travel from Europe to the United States would be suspended as the president had just said.
The statement read, in part, that the ban “suspends the entry of most foreign nationals who have been in certain European countries at any point during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival to the U.S.” The statement went on to say, “This does not apply to legal permanent residents, (generally) immediate family members of U.S. citizens, and other individuals who are identified in the proclamation.”
The need for clarification, and Kasich brushing it off, preferring instead to talk about Trump’s tone during the address, was the point of contention between Lemon and Kasich. The two continued to yell over each other even as Lemon was finally able to make his point. It’s the fact that medical experts have repeatedly had to correct the president’s public comments about the coronavirus that got Lemon so heated.
“What is it in the clarification you thought was so terrible?” Kasich asked. And after a little more yelling back and forth, Lemon said, “We’re in the middle of a pandemic, and every time the president comes out, he gives us inaccurate information. So I don’t understand why he would even come out and do it at all if he is going to confuse the American people even more.”
CNN Tonight With Don Lemon airs weeknights at 10:00 p.m. on CNN.
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